FSU student and Parkland survivor describes experiencing second school shooting: "This is America"
A shooting on the campus of Florida State University sent students running for safety Thursday. Two people were killed and six others were injured, authorities said.
It was a terrifyingly familiar experience for Stephanie Horowitz, who is a master's student at FSU and a survivor of the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed.
"I never thought it would happen to me for the first time, and here we are," she told "CBS Mornings." "Unfortunately, this is America for you."
Horowitz was in the bowling alley on campus when the shooting started. She's an instructor for a one-credit course that students can take, and said the music was playing so loudly that no one initially heard anything unusual.
"We were lucky that some of my students looked out of the glass doors and saw everybody running," she said.
When the students told Horowitz what they saw, she came out from behind her desk to see "belongings left behind," adding that because of her past experience at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, she knew exactly what that meant.
"I just started to direct everybody into the back room to safety until I got further information, but I had a feeling that it was an active shooter situation before I even heard," she said. "You looked out into that room and you knew there was an emergency. There was not anything there, no movement, dead silence and laptops, opened bags on the floor. I knew what that meant."
Police identified the alleged gunman as Phoenix Ikner, a 20-year-old FSU student and stepson of a Leon County sheriff's deputy. He was taken into custody after he was shot by police, officials said.
Processing the shooting
Horowitz was 15 years old and a freshman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School when the Parkland shooting happened.
"After that day, I kind of woke up every morning thinking that it could be my last," she recalled. "I was afraid for my life, every step that I took."
Horowitz said she's come a long way to overcome those feelings over the past seven years.
"I was able to walk around campus and feel safe, and here we are yet again and that was taken from me for a second time."
She said she hasn't started to process this shooting because she's "not ready to potentially go back to a place where I'm a little unsure and not feeling myself."
But she said she is grateful for her support system and wants to help support others.
"I was responsible for almost 30 students because I was the instructor. So I was looking out for their best interests and keeping them safe, and soon, I'll be able to process things myself," Horowitz said.
